Krakow Photomonth Festival 2012

Krakow Photomonth is one of our favorite festivals in Europe. This year's Krakow Photomonth main program will include both doyens and angry young photographers; nostalgic romantics and uncompromising pioneers; charismatic experimenters and contemplative classics:

At the exhibition "Alexander Rodchenko. Revolution in Photography" over three hundred works by this star of the Russian avant-garde, a classic of modern photography and one of the most important artists of the 20th century, will be exhibited.

The exhibition “Jerzy Lewczynski. Memory of the Image" will be an opportunity for many to discover the achievements of this renovator of Polish photography, and an overview of many versions of his work: from a deep need to promote photography as an instrument for recording reality to the rejection of faith in the photographic medium and a series of artistic activities without the use of a camera.

"The fidelity of images. René Magritte and photography" presents the delightful photographic achievements of Magritte, one of the most famous artists of the Surrealist circle and largely associated with painting. The exhibition will show works not made public until after his death and still little known: dozens of photos produced in the years 1928-1955 and selected films from the 50s. These funny, sometimes disturbing images formed a continuing play with what’s real and what’s imagined.

The exhibition "While Men Are at War" by Sergey Bratkov, the chief Ukrainian iconoclast, presents two cycles of photographs: "Kids" and "Women soldiers." It's a fascinating – and despite everything universal – analysis of sexual taboos and the phenomena occurring in post-communist society, and surprising (based on observation of the Ukrainian women soldiers portrayed) indication of the key to understanding the nature of modern Ukraine.

Although Sally Mann’s iconic work displayed at the Ethnographic Museum in the exhibition "The Family and the Land" comes from different periods of her oeuvre, it touches on themes close to the artist which recur in many of her works: body, time and nature and their mutual relationships. Sally Mann captures images with great attention, constantly keeping in mind – and thus urging viewers to think about – the passing of time, and changes that come from the mysterious processes of transition.

Jason Evans' solo exhibition entitled "Pictures for looking at and sculpture for photography" encourages the audience to experience the pleasure of photography consciously.

The photography of Dutch photographer Viviane Sassen from the series "Parasomnia" is a record of her personal journeys and returns to Africa, the land of the artist's childhood. The shots captured at deliberately undefined points of the continent present both anonymous subjects and characters. The title affliction is a sleep disorder which manifests itself in unusual hypnagogic visions. In Sassen’s photography, the boundaries between document and fashion or creative photography are blurred, and the result is a unique style.

An important innovation in this year’s Krakow Photomonth Festival is the Experimental Section. This part of the program includes events and presentations on both floors of the Bunkier Sztuki Gallery that make up the expansive and interdisciplinary project "Photography in everyday life." The project is being curated by the famous British critic Charlotte Cotton (author of "Photography as Contemporary Art"), with the participation of several Polish curators and researchers. The idea is to trace and analyze the role of photography in the everyday life of each of us, as well as the relationships between photography and social and historical phenomena. Among the many planned activities and projects, there will be a series of lectures, seminars, and audience interactive activities – all under the slogan of this year's festival: JOIN US!

For this year's ShowOFF Section, 10 young artists were selected. Together, they’re working on the exhibitions which will be presented for the first time will in May.

Krakow Photomonth Festival is more than just exhibitions, though. The variety of this Anniversary Festival will be complemented by a rich program of accompanying events – for the whole month, at many places around the city, meetings, screenings, lectures, workshops, portfolio reviews and slide shows will be held.

Krakow Photomonth Festival
17 May 2012 - 17 June 2012
www.photomonth.com